Pál Budai

Pál Budai’s sports career began when he was beaten by an eighth grader at school. From then on, he only thought about the “rematch” and became a regular visitor to the boxing training of middle school students. As a student at a higher commercial school, Budai began his career in 1942 in the colours of KISOK. Between 1946 and 1949, he was an athlete of BRE, and then until 1957 he was an athlete of Bp. Dózsa. At the beginning of his career in 1946 he defeated the young László Papp in a team championship match. He won the Hungarian championship once in the light welterweight (1951) and lightweight (1948), and three times in the welterweight (1947, 1953, 1955).

Between 1947 and 1955 Budai was a member of the Hungarian national team. His greatest success came in 1955 in West Berlin when he finished second in the European Championships. At the World University Championships, he won gold in Berlin in 1949 and silver in Budapest in 1951. In 1952 he participated in the Helsinki Olympics where he was defeated in the first round and finished unplaced. In addition to his sports career Budai also worked for the police.